Goal Oriented Expediting
(Word count: 1,079, two printed pages)
Having reviewed the numbers of our three-plus years in expediting, it is as clear to me as the sun in the sky that a one-truck (straight or semi), husband/wife expediting team with a good work ethic, clean record and ordinary ability, can, in 20 years or less, build a net worth of one million dollars; by setting that as their goal, acquiring the necessary skills, making certain lifestyle commitments, adopting certain business practices and using their expediting earnings to achieve it.
Some will dismiss this view as pie in the sky or seeing things through rose colored glasses. While such figures of speech are easy to use, the numbers make the stronger case. When I look at the numbers, it does not surprise me that a goal-oriented team can earn their way to a million-dollars. It does surprise me that so few teams set out to do it.
Perhaps it is not that millionaire-oriented expediter teams are wearing rose colored glasses. Perhaps it is that others are wearing blinders that keep the million-dollar possibility from seeming real or the required effort from seeming worth it.
Indeed, in the EO Open Forum, the mention of above-average financial results in expediting moves certain people to respond with mockery, disdain, personal attacks and/or jealous rage. Others are quick to warn that a million-dollar net worth is unwise to hope for, and they are quite convinced it cannot be done.
I say it can. While it is true that some teams cannot do it, it is not true that all teams cannot. In other words, some teams can. I also say a happy and optimistic outlook is more profitable and fun to maintain than a grumpy and pessimistic one. Given a choice between rose colored glasses and blinders, I'll chose the rose colored glasses every time.
That would lead some to suggest that the realistic view -- the objective and clear view that lies between rose colored and blind -- is best. I agree. And that leads me straight back to my experienced-based, numbers-based, million-dollar conclusion.
Most team expediters have not paused to seriously consider a million-dollar goal. I believe that is due more to a lack of vision than a lack of opportunity. Before you can work your way to a million dollars, you have to see your way to a million dollars. If more expediting teams saw it was possible, and saw how, more would set out to do it.
It is like discovering a new route that you wish you had known before. For years you take the same road through an area. Then something happens that forces you to reconsider your present ways. It might be a construction detour or a wrong turn. It might be a pickup or delivery at a new location in the area. Something leads you to discover a route that was there all the time but you did not previously see. The new way helps you avoid tolls, congestion and saves miles. Now that you know about it, you use it all the time and wonder why you did not see it before.
As it is with trip planning, so too it may be with expediting goals. It is not that a better route was not there. It is that you did not see it. It is not that you were prohibited from or incapable of taking the better way. It is that you were not looking for a better way. You were not looking for a better way because you already believed you knew the best way.
That is not to say that all expediting teams should have a million-dollar goal. I am not saying that at all. For expediters that have non-monetary goals, have big home-time or free-time goals, or believe that becoming a millionaire will somehow degrade one's quality of life or moral standing on this earth, theirs is the better way for them.
Diane and I have a million-dollar goal. For us, the worst case is not that a negative event would prematurely end our expediting career. The worst case would be to complete an expediting career and have little to show for it. Our goal is not about money as an end in itself. It is about focusing our efforts today for financial freedom tomorrow.
It is an ambitious goal but one we believe we can achieve. Our belief is based not on blind faith or false hopes. It is based on four years of ongoing industry research, an informed approach to savings and investment, and three-plus years of real-world expediting results on which to gauge our performance and base our expectations.
This is not a pipe dream for us. It is a realistic, specific and achievable goal. We know exactly what it takes to achieve this goal and exactly how to do it. As you read this, we are, right now, in the expediting revenue stream with our eyes on the prize.
Knowing full well that bad months and even bad years may come, we are nevertheless acting, reacting and doing what it takes to reach our goal. When the bad times do come, we will continue to act, react and do what it takes to reach our goal.
While some teams do not have what it takes to build a million-dollar net worth, others do. The goal is specific and easily understood. While certain facts must be accepted and skills possessed to achieve the goal, there is nothing hidden or mysterious about it. If the desire and work ethic are present, the facts and skills can be learned.
The effort required to become a millionaire expediting team is no greater than the effort required to work hard and have little to show for it at career end. It's not just about staying out and getting good loads. It's about being always mindful of your goal and making the moment-by-moment choices that help you achieve it.
In the EO Open Forum, there is an ongoing flow of failure stories and somber warnings against making mistakes and operating on hope alone. While such posts have value, they do not move people forward. They only tell people what to avoid.
How about some talk of success? Whether your goal is money-specific or something else, I invite goal-oriented expediters to share what works for them.
(1) What are your expediting goals?
(2) As you strive to achieve your expediting goals, what works?
(Word count: 1,079, two printed pages)
Having reviewed the numbers of our three-plus years in expediting, it is as clear to me as the sun in the sky that a one-truck (straight or semi), husband/wife expediting team with a good work ethic, clean record and ordinary ability, can, in 20 years or less, build a net worth of one million dollars; by setting that as their goal, acquiring the necessary skills, making certain lifestyle commitments, adopting certain business practices and using their expediting earnings to achieve it.
Some will dismiss this view as pie in the sky or seeing things through rose colored glasses. While such figures of speech are easy to use, the numbers make the stronger case. When I look at the numbers, it does not surprise me that a goal-oriented team can earn their way to a million-dollars. It does surprise me that so few teams set out to do it.
Perhaps it is not that millionaire-oriented expediter teams are wearing rose colored glasses. Perhaps it is that others are wearing blinders that keep the million-dollar possibility from seeming real or the required effort from seeming worth it.
Indeed, in the EO Open Forum, the mention of above-average financial results in expediting moves certain people to respond with mockery, disdain, personal attacks and/or jealous rage. Others are quick to warn that a million-dollar net worth is unwise to hope for, and they are quite convinced it cannot be done.
I say it can. While it is true that some teams cannot do it, it is not true that all teams cannot. In other words, some teams can. I also say a happy and optimistic outlook is more profitable and fun to maintain than a grumpy and pessimistic one. Given a choice between rose colored glasses and blinders, I'll chose the rose colored glasses every time.
That would lead some to suggest that the realistic view -- the objective and clear view that lies between rose colored and blind -- is best. I agree. And that leads me straight back to my experienced-based, numbers-based, million-dollar conclusion.
Most team expediters have not paused to seriously consider a million-dollar goal. I believe that is due more to a lack of vision than a lack of opportunity. Before you can work your way to a million dollars, you have to see your way to a million dollars. If more expediting teams saw it was possible, and saw how, more would set out to do it.
It is like discovering a new route that you wish you had known before. For years you take the same road through an area. Then something happens that forces you to reconsider your present ways. It might be a construction detour or a wrong turn. It might be a pickup or delivery at a new location in the area. Something leads you to discover a route that was there all the time but you did not previously see. The new way helps you avoid tolls, congestion and saves miles. Now that you know about it, you use it all the time and wonder why you did not see it before.
As it is with trip planning, so too it may be with expediting goals. It is not that a better route was not there. It is that you did not see it. It is not that you were prohibited from or incapable of taking the better way. It is that you were not looking for a better way. You were not looking for a better way because you already believed you knew the best way.
That is not to say that all expediting teams should have a million-dollar goal. I am not saying that at all. For expediters that have non-monetary goals, have big home-time or free-time goals, or believe that becoming a millionaire will somehow degrade one's quality of life or moral standing on this earth, theirs is the better way for them.
Diane and I have a million-dollar goal. For us, the worst case is not that a negative event would prematurely end our expediting career. The worst case would be to complete an expediting career and have little to show for it. Our goal is not about money as an end in itself. It is about focusing our efforts today for financial freedom tomorrow.
It is an ambitious goal but one we believe we can achieve. Our belief is based not on blind faith or false hopes. It is based on four years of ongoing industry research, an informed approach to savings and investment, and three-plus years of real-world expediting results on which to gauge our performance and base our expectations.
This is not a pipe dream for us. It is a realistic, specific and achievable goal. We know exactly what it takes to achieve this goal and exactly how to do it. As you read this, we are, right now, in the expediting revenue stream with our eyes on the prize.
Knowing full well that bad months and even bad years may come, we are nevertheless acting, reacting and doing what it takes to reach our goal. When the bad times do come, we will continue to act, react and do what it takes to reach our goal.
While some teams do not have what it takes to build a million-dollar net worth, others do. The goal is specific and easily understood. While certain facts must be accepted and skills possessed to achieve the goal, there is nothing hidden or mysterious about it. If the desire and work ethic are present, the facts and skills can be learned.
The effort required to become a millionaire expediting team is no greater than the effort required to work hard and have little to show for it at career end. It's not just about staying out and getting good loads. It's about being always mindful of your goal and making the moment-by-moment choices that help you achieve it.
In the EO Open Forum, there is an ongoing flow of failure stories and somber warnings against making mistakes and operating on hope alone. While such posts have value, they do not move people forward. They only tell people what to avoid.
How about some talk of success? Whether your goal is money-specific or something else, I invite goal-oriented expediters to share what works for them.
(1) What are your expediting goals?
(2) As you strive to achieve your expediting goals, what works?
But really it does not take a brain surgeon to see that if you start EARLY and CONTINUE to put money aside it can be done. It is more likley to be accomplished if you run it for about thirty years.